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All 88 seats in the Victorian Legislative Assembly and 40 seats in the Victorian Legislative Council 45 Legislative Assembly seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Winning margin by electorate. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 2026 Victorian state election is expected to be held on 28 November 2026 to elect the 61st Parliament of Victoria. [1] All 88 seats in the Legislative Assembly (lower house) and all 40 seats in the Legislative Council (upper house) will be up for election, presuming there are no new electorates added in a redistribution.
The Labor government, currently led by Premier Jacinta Allan, will attempt to win a record fourth consecutive four-year term against the Liberal/National Coalition opposition, currently led by Brad Battin.
The election will be administered by the Victorian Electoral Commission.
The Daniel Andrews-led Labor government was returned to power in 2014 after winning a majority of seats in the Legislative Assembly at the 2014 state election. The Labor party was re-elected at the 2018 state election and again at the 2022 state election, winning 56 seats. The Liberal/National Coalition gained one seat to 28 seats, the Greens won 4 seats. In the Legislative Council, the Labor party won 15 of the 40 seats.
Daniel Andrews announced his resignation as Premier and leader of the Victorian Labor Party at a press conference on 26 September 2023; a resignation that was formally affected the following day. This precipitated a leadership election within the Labor party-room, which was won unopposed by Jacinta Allan following hours of intense negotiations between members of Labor's left and right factions. Allan, of the left, was elected to the leadership position and right-faction member Ben Carroll was elected deputy leader and deputy premier. [2] Allan became the second female premier in the state's history, following Joan Kirner's 1990–1992 premiership. [3] The government is seeking a fourth consecutive four-year term.
Following the Liberal/National Coalition's defeat, Opposition Leader and Liberal leader Matthew Guy announced in his post-election concession speech he would resign the leadership of the party. This ensured a leadership election was held for the position, at which newly elected member for Hawthorn John Pesutto defeated Brad Battin by one vote in a secret ballot of Liberal party-room MPs. [4]
Since the 2022 state election, and the January 2023 supplementary election in Narracan there have been two by-elections; the August 2023 Warrandyte by-election, and the November 2023 Mulgrave by-election. In both votes the incumbent party's candidate was successful.
The Assembly's composition has been altered by the removal of Will Fowles and Darren Cheeseman from the Labor caucus in October 2023 and April 2024 respectively, with both now sitting on the crossbench as "Independent Labor" MPs. The resignation of Sam Hibbins from the Greens on 1 November 2024 also resulted in his sitting on the crossbench as an Independent MP until 23 November, whereupon he quit parliament. [5]
The by-election for Hibbins' seat of Prahran will be held in February 2025. The 2025 Werribee state by-election will be held in 2025 following the resignation of incumbent member Tim Pallas, which was announced on 16 December 2024.
On 27 December 2024, a leadership spill resulted in Brad Battin replacing John Pesutto as leader of the Liberal/National Coalition. [6]
Eligible Victorian electors are required to cast a ballot due to compulsory voting laws. The eligibility criteria for enrolment to vote includes being 18 years or older, an Australian citizen, and to have lived in Victoria for longer than a month. [1]
For the election of members to single seats of the Legislative Assembly, the Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC) uses full preferential voting where for a vote to count, it is required to number every box on the ballot in the order of the most preferred candidate for the particular electoral district an elector is registered to vote in. [7] The election will cover all 88 Seats of the Victorian Legislative Assembly. [8]
For the election of members to multi-member state regions in the Legislative Council the VEC uses optional preferential voting where voters can either vote for a political party or a group voting ticket 'above the line' or vote for individual candidates 'below the line'. [7] Members of the Legislative Council represent state regions. There are currently eight state regions, they make up of eleven Legislative Assembly districts and are each represented by five members of Parliament in the Legislative Council. [9]
When voting 'above the line', for a vote to count, voters are required to write the number 1 for the political party or group of candidates they prefer. Preferences will then be automatically distributed based on the registered preference order provided to the VEC by the group voting ticket. [7]
When voting 'below the line', for a vote to count, voters are required to number a minimum of 5 boxes on the ballot in the order of their most preferred candidate. [7]
Parties registered with the Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC). [10]
Additionally, The West Party was established in December 2024 and plans to be registered in time for the 2026 election. [11]
The following members announced that they were not contesting the 2026 election:
In accordance to the timetable set out in the Electoral Act 2002 (VIC), the terms of elected officials to Victorian Parliament are on a fixed term basis. All elections since the 2006 have occurred every four years on the last Saturday of November. Unless the Governor of Victoria unexpectedly dissolves parliament, the election is expected to be held on 28 November 2026. [14]
This section needs expansionwith: updated scatter plot images. You can help by adding to it. (January 2025) |
Date | Firm | Sample | Primary vote | TPP vote | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ALP | LIB | NAT | GRN | OTH | ALP | L/NP | |||
December 2024 – January 2025 | Resolve Strategic [16] [g] | 1,124 | 22% | 42%* | 13% | 23% | 45.5% | 55.5% | |
27 December 2024 Brad Battin becomes Liberal leader and leader of the opposition | |||||||||
6–20 November 2024 | Redbridge [17] [18] | 920 | 30% | 43%* | 14% | 13% | 49% | 51% | |
10 November 2024 | Resolve Strategic [19] | 1,000 | 28% | 38%* | 13% | 21% | 49% | 51% | |
26 September – 3 October 2024 | Redbridge [20] [21] | 1,516 | 30% | 40%* | 12% | 18% | 49% | 51% | |
18 September 2024 | Redbridge [22] | 1,500 | 30% | 40%* | 12% | 17% | 50% | 50% | |
7 September 2024 | Resolve Strategic [23] | 1,054 | 27% | 37%* | 14% | 22% | 50% | 50% | |
6 – 29 August 2024 | Wolf & Smith [24] [25] | 2,024 | 28% | 40%* | 14% | 18% | 48% | 52% | |
5 August 2024 | Redbridge [26] | 1,514 | 31% | 40%* | 12% | 17% | 50% | 50% | |
14 July 2024 | Resolve Strategic [27] | 1,000 | 27% | 37%* | 15% | 21% | 50% | 50% | |
7 June 2024 | Redbridge [28] | 1,000 | 35% | 38%* | 14% | 13% | 55% | 45% | |
19 May 2024 | Resolve Strategic [29] [h] | — | 28% | 37%* | 13% | 22% | 50% | 50% | |
24 March 2024 | Resolve Strategic [31] [h] | ~1,100 | 33% | 35%* | 13% | 19% | 54.6% | 45.4% | |
14 – 20 March 2024 | Redbridge [32] | 1,559 | 36% | 38%* | 10% | 16% | 54% | 46% | |
2 – 12 December 2023 | Redbridge [33] [34] | 2,000 | 37% | 36%* | 13% | 14% | 55.9% | 44.1% | |
3 December 2023 | Resolve Strategic [35] [h] | ~1,100 | 37% | 31%* | 11% | 20% | 56.5% | 43.5% | |
September – October 2023 | Resolve Strategic [36] [h] | ~1,100 | 39% | 32%* | 12% | 17% | 57.5% | 42.5% | |
27 September 2023 Jacinta Allan becomes premier and Labor leader | |||||||||
31 August – 14 September 2023 | Redbridge [37] | 3,001 | 37% | 34%* | 13% | 16% | 56.5% | 43.5% | |
July – August 2023 | Resolve Strategic [38] [h] | ~1,100 | 39% | 28%* | 13% | 20% | 60% | 40% | |
19 – 20 July 2023 | Roy Morgan [39] | 1,046 | 33% | 35.5%* | 12.5% | 19% [i] | 53% | 47% | |
May – June 2023 | Resolve Strategic [40] [h] | 1,003 | 41% | 23% | 3% | 15% | 18% | 62.5% | 37.5% |
17 – 22 May 2023 | Roy Morgan [41] | 2,095 | 42% | 28.5%* | 12.5% | 17% [j] | 61.5% | 38.5% | |
19 – 22 April 2023 | Resolve Strategic [42] [h] | 1,609 | 42% | 30%* | 10% | 17% | 60.5% | 39.5% | |
15 – 18 February 2023 | Resolve Strategic [43] [h] | 825 | 41% | 30%* | 13% | 17% | 60.9% | 39.1% | |
8 December 2022 John Pesutto becomes Liberal leader and leader of the opposition | |||||||||
26 November 2022 election [44] | N/A | N/A | 37.0% | 29.6% | 4.8% | 11.5% | 17.1% | 55% | 45% |
21 – 24 November 2022 | Newspoll [45] | 1,226 | 38% | 35%* | 12% | 15% | 54.5% | 45.5% | |
* Indicates a combined Liberal and National Coalition primary vote. | |||||||||
Newspoll polling is published in The Australian . [46] |
Date | Firm | Better premier | Allan | Battin | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Allan | Battin | Satisfied | Dissatisfied | Satisfied | Dissatisfied | |||
Early-December 2024 and Mid-January 2025 [16] | Resolve Strategic | 27% | 36% | not asked | not asked | |||
27 December 2024 Battin replaces Pesutto | Allan | Pesutto | Allan | Pesutto | ||||
10 November 2024 | Resolve Strategic [19] | 29% | 30% | not asked | not asked | |||
7 September 2024 | Resolve Strategic [23] | 30% | 29% | not asked | not asked | |||
14 July 2024 | Resolve Strategic [27] | 31% | 28% | not asked | not asked | |||
19 May 2024 | Resolve Strategic [47] | 31% | 26% | not asked | not asked | |||
24 March 2024 | Resolve Strategic [31] | 34% | 25% | not asked | not asked | |||
22 December 2023 | Redbridge [34] | not asked | 24% | 30% | 16% | 29% | ||
3 December 2023 | Resolve Strategic [35] | 34% | 22% | not asked | not asked | |||
September – October 2023 | Resolve Strategic [36] | 38% | 19% | not asked | not asked | |||
27 September 2023 Allan replaces Andrews | Andrews | Pesutto | Andrews | Pesutto | ||||
July – August 2023 | Resolve Strategic [38] | 41% | 32% | not asked | not asked | |||
19 – 20 July 2023 | Roy Morgan [39] | 52.5% | 47.5% | 45% | 55% | not asked | ||
May – June 2023 | Resolve Strategic [40] | 49% | 26% | not asked | not asked | |||
17 – 22 May 2023 | Roy Morgan [41] | 64% | 36% | 52.5% | 47.5% | 46.5% | 53.5% | |
19 – 22 April 2023 | Resolve Strategic [42] | 49% | 28% | not asked | not asked | |||
15 – 18 February 2023 | Resolve Strategic [43] | 50% | 26% | not asked | not asked | |||
8 December 2022 Pesutto replaces Guy | Andrews | Guy | Andrews | Guy | ||||
26 November 2022 election | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
21 – 24 November 2022 | Newspoll [45] | 51% | 35% | 46% | 48% | 31% | 56% | |
* Remainder were "uncommitted" or "other/neither". † Participants were forced to choose. | ||||||||
Newspoll polling is published in The Australian . [46] |
Jacinta Marie Allan is an Australian politician serving as the 49th and current premier of Victoria since 2023. She has been the leader of the Victorian branch of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) since 2023 and has been a member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly (MLA) for the district of Bendigo East since 1999. She previously served as the 29th deputy premier of Victoria from 2022 to 2023. Allan is the longest-serving female minister in Victorian state history and currently the most senior sitting member of the Assembly.
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